Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/529

Rh only removed the apprehensions of Lee as to an attack in his rear by the large force that had been intrusted to Hunter, but had relieved Lee in the defense of Richmond by the distraction caused by the Maryland campaign, and the withdrawal of so many men from Grant's besieging army; also to consider the heroic achievements of this little army of men in the brief period from June 13th to August 7th, during which it had made direct marches from Richmond to beyond Lynchburg, into the Valley near Salem, then down the Valley into Maryland and to the very gates of Washington, fighting two important battles and engaging the enemy in uncounted skirmishes and engagements worthy of record. No less remarkable was Early's masterly retreat from Washington, back into the Shenandoah valley, warding off blows that from all sides were aimed at his movements, and giving better ones in return, so that he was not only able to maintain himself and provide for his army in the lower valley, but to destroy long stretches of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and exact tribute from a wealthy Pennsylvania town for the wanton destruction of the private property of prominent citizens in Virginia.

The student of military history can but be impressed with the way in which Early dealt with Hunter; with the boldness and ability of his treatment of the defensive garrison occupying the strong position on Maryland heights at Harper's Ferry, merely toying with it in advancing and then, unhesitatingly, leaving it in his rear and ignoring it in passing on to Washington, a treatment quite unlike that of Lee's ever memorable Maryland campaign; the promptness and originality of his attacks on Lew Wallace, at Monocacy, when he landed a brigade of infantry on his enemy's flank, across a deep river, by the unheard of device of having each man of a brigade of cavalry take an infantryman behind him, in a dash through the river, and thus enable him to surprise the enemy by turning his flank with an infantry force, supported by a wing of cavalry, from a direction supposed to be unapproachable, and, so far as the writer knows, introducing to armies a novel method of movement and attack.

After spending August 8th and 9th in his camps at Bunker Hill and Darkesville, Early fell back to Stephenson's depot and sent Breckinridge to the mouth of